


Destined To Be

by FuturePast56



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Arthur is back, Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gwen and Arthur are happily married, Gwen/Morgana is only mentioned, Happy Ending, I Tried, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I promise, I will stop tagging, I would probably write more but I stopped myself and just finished this thing, I'm soulmate trash, M/M, Merlin is an artist, Merlin is hiding his magic AND his soulmate marks, Merthur - Freeform, One Shot, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, XD, and Arthur is so oblivious, and Gwen and Merlin are still bff's, and has awesome friends, as background relationship, at least you're pretty, i think, like hon, poor child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 19:59:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12660423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuturePast56/pseuds/FuturePast56
Summary: Merlin knew that Arthur was his soulmate. He knew that - he would be really stupid if he didn’t. You can feel your soulmate pain and you get their scars when they got injured and Arthur got injured all the time. So, yeah, Merlin noticed.During their first fight, the day he moved to Camelot, he tried to pretend that he didn’t, that he hit his head too hard and that extra pain he was getting every time the prince fall down was just an illusion of his mind. And later the Dragon started talking about them being destined to something together and Merlin would need to be really dumb to not realize what Kilgarrah was insinuating.OrIn the world where your soulmate's wounds are reflected on your body Merlin needs to hide the truth about his connection to the Prince of Camelot.





	Destined To Be

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic in Merlin fandom and I hope you like it!  
> Also, of course it's soulmate AU because I'm trash (honestly, look into my works I thinks it's all soulmate AU's and one unfinished Hogwarts AU xD)  
> Anyway I hope you liked it ;)

Merlin knew that Arthur was his soulmate. He knew that, he would be really stupid if he didn’t. You can feel your soulmate pain and you get their scars when they got injured and Arthur got injured all the time. So, yeah, Merlin noticed.

During their first fight, the day he moved to Camelot, he tried to pretend that he didn’t, that he hit his head too hard and that extra pain he was getting every time the prince fall down was just an illusion of his mind. And later the Dragon started talking about them being destined to something together and Merlin would need to be really dumb to not realize what Kilgarrah was insinuating.

To be honest, Merlin knew for sure after the week of working as Arthur servant. When the prince was training sword-fighting with other knights, Merlin could feel every single punch his soulmate received, which made him hate Arthur. Just think about it. His own soulmate was a self-centered, selfish, moronic dollop-head of a prince with whom Merlin had no chance to had a normal conversation with and who loved to get into random fights just to prove his manliness – which always impressed the public and caused Merlin to get some new bruises. But the bruises were not the most annoying things, oh no. The most annoying were scratch marks on his back and marks on his shoulders and neck, definitely not created by the opponent in the battle, but by exited and impressed lady from the crowd... Those marks made Merlin really jealous. Merlin quickly learned how to cover up bruises from soulmate magic and tried to do that each morning to not raise any suspicions. He still has seen them and, but the rest did not notice a thing.

*****

The real problem began when he started to actually like the prince. He noticed his courage, his possibility of actually having a brain and, of course, his amazing body, with scars and bruises reflecting those on Merlin's skin. After one of the more intense fights, Merlin helped Arthur get to his chambers and sat him down on his bed, prince only shaking his head.

"My soulmate must hate me" he said and Merlin froze next to blonde men.

"W-why?" He stuttered out as it was the first time when Arthur addressed the topic of soulmates with him. They talked – well, Arthur usually talked – about the beauty of some ladies at the court – mostly the visitors – and about how Arthur would like to marry for love, which may be impossible for him as the prince has his responsibilities – Arthur was really drunk during that conversation.

"All those scars and bruises I get in fights... Poor girl must be horrified" Arthur answered, and Merlin breathed and smiled.

"Oh, I'm sure your soulmate loves to look like after casual assault every day of their lives" he answered and started to clean some things from Arthur's room to keep himself busy and avoid his stare.

"Hey, look who is talking. What about your soulmate, Merlin? Poor, unfortunate girl is probably wondering why the biggest injury you ever got was alcohol poisoning from all those nights in the pub" he said with laughter and Merlin rolled his eyes, making the mental note to ask Gaius for different excuses when he is away, busy saving Camelot.

"I've got my injuries" he answered with offended voice, remembering each time he almost died for his fucking useless soulmate's sake.

"Oh, of course, you do, Merlin" said Arthur with sarcasm in his voice – a thing he picked up from many conversations with Merlin. Merlin was about to answer when the prince undressed his shirt and all the thoughts from wizard's head disappeared. Damn his freaking soulmate, he hated him so much right now. "You have cuts on your delicate hands from washing dishes and accidentally cutting yourself while carrying my sword. You also probably have a lot of bruises on your knees, because of all the washing of my floors you sometimes actually remember to do... Those marks will definitely be a mystery for your soulmate, she will be really confused, Merlin" prince finished and his servant froze once again, one thought in his mind: 'What. The. Actual. Fuck' would be the closest to describe it. Was Arthur suggesting what Merlin thought he was suggesting? It's not like Merlin never did that, he was never attracted to girls like his other mates, and he did have sex with Will and some random too-drunk-to-remember-a-thing guys in Camelot, but he never actually heard anyone even remotely suggesting it in normal conversation. Wizard looked and Arthur and throw prince's sleeping clothes at him to fill the awkward silence with something.

"I don’t think my soulmate would be that shocked" he muttered under his breath and took some plates to take them down to the kitchen. "I will wake you up tomorrow faster, the prince of Evalon with his sister should be here at dawn" he said before leaving the room - and the conversation he was never planning to return to – behind.

*****

Arthur did grow up. He became the King of Camelot, he was faced with many problems and his incredibly wise and just decisions put Merlin in terrible position as he slowly started to realize that he had feelings for Arthur that went outside quiet admiring of his muscles – not that he stopped doing that, but now he was for some reason more interested in Arthur's heart than his body (what is wrong with him?). The worst part was watching how he slowly fell in love with Gwen. Merlin watched how Arthur's eyes were full of love while looking at his friend and he was sure that his eyes are the same when he watches the King. After Arthur informed him that he wants to propose to Gwen, Merlin couldn't fake the smile so instead he started shouting how Gwen is perfect so if the proposal won't be as perfect as she is he will team up with Morgana to murder Arthur for hurting Gwen. Arthur only rolled his eyes at that reaction and ask him to help with preparation. And Merlin did. He prepared flowers, ordered Gwen's favourite food from the court kitchen and cleaned the chambers to make sure everything will be as Gwen would want it. That night Merlin laid in his bed wondering if Arthur could feel his heartache when proposing to someone else.

*****

The biggest universe joke of all was that the first person to realize – except Kilgarrah – that Arthur and Merlin were soulmates was the person who dreamt of killing them both. Morgana was able to separate Merlin from the group during one of the battles and put him in those chains that blocked his magic, all his bruises and scars slowly appearing back on his skin to which The Highest Priestess raised her eyebrows.

"You cover your soulmate marks, Merlin?" She asked in a curious tone, putting the sharp blade of her dagger to a bruise on his neck. She smiled and pushed a knife harder, cutting his skin directly on the bruise and shaking her head. "You are a walking mystery, Merlin" she then whispered and smiled, hearing the sound of horses coming in their direction. After a minute they were surrounded by soldiers of Camelot, Arthur leading the group.

"Morgana" he only said, staring down his step-sister. The witch looked like she was about to say something, but then her eyes stopped at a little scar on the bruise on Arthur's neck, reflecting the one she just created on Merlin. Dark-haired women only shook her head with laughter.

"This is so much better than I could've plan" she said, looked Merlin in the eyes and winked. Winked. Merlin knew he was screwed at the fucking second. Morgana then turned back to Arthur. "Good luck, little brother" she added and throw a spell that she prepared before the arrival of the knights that made her disappear. Arthur quickly ran to Merlin and took the chains off of him to which Merlin nodded and thanked for saving him, quickly making his wound invisible again.

"Wonder what was Morgana's plan, because just letting you go seems a little bit pointless even for her" Arthur wondered when they were riding back.

"She probably just forgot her magic supplies or was intimidated by my handsome face" Merlin muttered an answer and Arthur chuckled and shook his head.

"Whatever you say, Merlin" he only answered.

*****

They discovered Morgana's plan two days later when the dagger she cut him with was poisoned, which caused Arthur to go for a dangerous quest to find some magic flower and save him (again). Normally Merlin would go with the King and make sure his cute butt saved, but he was busy trying not to die, so no one can blame him for missing this one out.

*****

Gwen's and Arthur's wedding was beautiful, Merlin had to admit it, even though he felt like every single scar on his body hurt him twice as hard than it would normally. He felt like crying, he felt like screaming and yelling to the universe for being so unfair, but instead, he just looked at Gwen in her perfect dress and a smile from one ear to another and he smiled. Was it a genuine smile? He wasn’t sure, but he kept it on for an entire evening.

*****

Gwen knew. And Merlin suspected she did, but he never mentioned it, until one day she asked him for a minute in an empty throne room and not even a second after the door closed which she hugged him.

"Why didn't you just tell me, you idiot?" She asked, her voice shaking, her arms still holding him in a tight hug. He was about to ask what she is talking about, but the Queen stopped him. "And don't you dare to pretend you don’t know what I'm talking about!" She added, but Merlin was honestly wondering does her friend meant him being a wizard secret or him being a soulmate/totally in love with her husband. Either way, it won't be an easy conversation.

"I just couldn't, Gwen. It's not something you go around talking about" he answered, still unsure what their conversation is really about. Brunette finally decided to end a hug and look him in the eye.

"I understand that. Really, Merlin, I do..." She stopped and shook her head. "But I'm your friend... And I would definitely tell you if my soulmate was someone you were about to marry" she finished and Merlin sighed. The talk about him having magic would probably be easier... and less painful.

"I'm... Gwen, I couldn't and you know that" he started, looking her straight into her brown eyes. "He was a prince, supposed to be a king when I met him, and everyone kept on talking how he will marry for Camelot not for love because it's his duty and he doesn't have a choice... What could I do?" He asked, the feeling of this weird emptiness in his chest coming back.

"You could've told me" Gwen just whispered. "And now I'm married to a man I truly love, who is my best friend's soulmate, and I did it just because there is literally no way I was getting with my soulmate, because she decided to be an evil witch who wants to kill everyone and I just, ugh..." Gwen stopped and shook her head, while Merlin blinked in shook.

"Are you saying that... Morgana is your...?" He couldn't finish the thought as Gwen nodded and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but I already know that's not going to happen" she only answered and sighed. "Look, Merlin, I felt really offended that you didn’t tell me, mostly because I thought that when I'm agreeing to marry Arthur I'm agreeing because there is no one that could be hurt by that... Arthur did tell me that he didn't get any marks and scars for years so I thought that I may actually fall in love with him, you know? And I did... And now I realized how stupid that was and how could I not notice that it's you" she shook her head.

"Gwen, it's okay. It's okay. You are an amazing Queen" he said, cupping her face in his hands to look her into eyes. "And Arthur loves you, he really does. He doesn't really know about... me or anything... You two are happy and will be happy together because you were connected by a love stronger than some soulmate fate bullshit. You found each other, even if you weren't destined to be, and that's beautiful" he finished and noticed Gwen's tear slowly falling down on his thumb.

"Thank you. That really... helped?" She said, half-question hanging in the air. "Did you use your magic to stop scars from appearing on Arthur?" She asked then and Merlin almost choked on air.

"Wha-what?" He mumbled and stepped back. "What are you talking about? You think If I would have magic I would do all that shit Arthur asks me to do every day?" The men mumbled and made a face to represent absurdness of that statement.

"Oh, C'mon, Merlin. I'm not that stupid" the Queen only said and winked at him before turning around and walking out from the throne-room. It took Merlin only twenty seconds to understand what just happened and run after Gwen.

*****

Kilgarrah was really annoying about his destiny when they met so Merlin decided to be equally annoying while talking about his love problems.

"...I honestly don't know how many times I can wake up with 'after sex marks' on my skin and then look at Arthur and Gwen normally during some kind of meeting at the throne room" he mumbled in the cave and he could hear the dragon sigh.

"The mystery of destiny and faith is un-" dragon started, but Merlin heard all the versions of that saying already and decided that he can live without hearing it once again.

"You know what I should do? I should stop the spell for, let's say: two days and see if Arthur notices anything. I don’t expect him to, but c'mon he cannot be that oblivious" a sorcerer continued to talk.

"He can if you don’t let him see things" Kilgarrah interrupted him. "Even the best cannot see what's unseen" he then added and Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, no shit. And grass is green. Why do I even come for advice to you?" He mumbled and shook his head.

"Because you don't have friends?" Dragon offered and Merlin looked at him offended.

"I do have friends!" He raised his voice while standing up. "You are a freaking dragon that's locked in the cave! You should be grateful that someone is talking to you!" He added and was sure that the beast in front of him just rolled its eyes.

"Sometimes the moment of silence is worth more than the hour of talking" Kilgarah said and Merlin stared him down.

"Are you subtly trying to tell me to shut up?" He only asked and dragon's silence answered his question. "Unbelievable... You can be the greatest wizard the world will even know that's destined to deal with an asshole twat of a prince and help him grow into actually-bearable-king and others will still expect you to shut up..." he shook his head and turned around. "Before I save the world another time I will wait till some witch kills off all the rude people, that's my new plan-" he continued to rant while walking out of the dragon's cave. The wizard could swear he heard the animal breath out with relief and just continued to rant how he will let people burn next time... Which he won't do, but everyone can dream.

*****

Before the final battle Merlin hugged the hell out of Gwen, knowing that – if everything was supposed to end this week – she will either lose her husband or her soulmate, and even though Gwen swore that she doesn't care about Morgana he knew that physical pain that her body will go through will be terrible. He also hugged Gaius and all his friends, hoping that he will have a chance to see them again.

*****

When Arthur was wounded Merlin screamed, his actions even more urgent and magic more focused specifically on protecting his soulmate instead on killing Morgana and Mordred... But somehow, he managed to spot Mordred in the mist of the battle, his blade cutting Arthur's skin. That was the last thing Mordred ever did before Merlin sent a wave of magic powerful enough to disarm the army – which he could do, but then Camelot's soldiers would also lose their weapons - to kill him. He hoped that was enough to save Arthur from the prophecy.

*****

It wasn't enough... Of course, it wasn't enough, he should know that changing destiny is not possible! And now Arthur could barely move, his poisoned wound slowly bringing him closer to death, and the only thing Merlin could do was focusing all his magic on slowing the effect of the poison and moving towards the possible solution with Arthur on his arm. They had to stop after couple hours and Merlin helped Arthur sit down somehow comfortably and quickly gathered the wood to make a fire. When he came back he noticed that the king was staring at him.

"I have something on my face?" He asked, trying to make the atmosphere more depressing, but Arthur nodded instead of rolling his eyes as he usually did.

"Yeah, you actually do" he said and Merlin blinked with confusion, quickly touching his right cheek, which caused Arthur to shook his head. "A bruise on your forehead, Merlin" he said and Merlin's head slowly found the bruise Arthur meant. He, then, shrugged and put the sticks he was holding down.

"Probably fall down or punched myself. Or both. Nothing new" he only said, avoiding king's stare.

"That's possible. Sounds like you" Arthur agreed and breathed out slowly. "But-ehm... I got a bruise in the exact same place" he then said and Merlin froze and looked at Arthur's face when new bruise was still forming on his forehead. But how... and then Merlin understood. He focused all his magic on slowing down Arthur's poison, letting go of the barrier on his soulmate marks that he built all those years ago.

"Huh... What a coincidence" he mumbled under his breath and forced a smile. Arthur looked really conflicted and Merlin was sure that it was it – years of hiding the truth will go to hell.

"Yeah..." Arthur only mumbled and Merlin couldn't stop feeling the pain of King's open wound. He could cure the wound and stop the bleeding, but the poison would still be a problem. Also, Arthur would be really confused about bleeding from deep cut suddenly stopping and healing completely.

"How is your cut?" Merlin asked, changing the subject and Arthur sit up, trying not visibly react to the pain that this movement caused.

"I've had worse" he said and forced a painful smile. "Poison is a bad part" he then added and Merlin nodded while creating a little spark of fire with his magic and creating a little bonfire, after which he sat next to his soulmate and stare at the fire with him. "Pass me my dagger, Merlin" Arthur mumbled after a couple of minutes and Merlin nodded. The wizard stood up and quickly took a sharp blade and gave it to Arthur. Before he could ask why King needs it or sit back down he noticed how Arthur quickly puts the blade to his cheek.

"What are you...?!" Merlin started, but the King already decided, hissing while little cut slowly appeared on his face. Merlin froze in shock, looking from blood slowly flowing down Arthur's face to his confused eyes full of sudden realization as he stared back at Merlin's cheek. The King opened his mouth twice before he managed to say anything.

"But how... why..." He started, shaking his head.

"Arthur, I can explain-" Merlin started, but the King kept on shaking his head.

"No, you can't" blonde only answered. "My soulmate is dead, I didn't feel anything for years. You can't be... I already let it go, okay? I went through my grief and you can't just-" the King stopped sighing and looked at wizard's eyes for the first time since the revelation. "You can't be my soulmate... I would know... You would know! And even you got scars sometimes so it's not possible" Arthur decided with the confident tone of a child who creates stories because he can't accept reality.

"I am" wizard only said, treacherous tears blurring his vision. "I am so so sorry, Arthur. For hiding it... So sorry" he mumbled and slowly moved his hand to the cut on Arthur's face, his fingers floating over the wound, not confident enough to touch it, when sudden need to explain himself took control as tears rolled down his face, cleaning the dirt and ash that were on his face since the battle. "You were a prince, Arthur. You were a prince and you said that you will never marry for love, because it's your duty to do what's the best for Camelot and I admired you for that, Arthur, so much" he stopped, trying to look at the eyes of the King, but he looked up with stubborn confidence. "I knew I wasn't a princess that you should marry and you..." He chuckled. "You were so happy to serve your people and fulfill your duty... And then you fall for Gwen and she fell for you and... that was it" Merlin said his mouth hanging open, wanting to say something more, to explain all that pain that he felt deep inside since he met Arthur, but he couldn't find any words to do so properly.

"How?" The blonde asked, finally looking down and meeting Merlin's gaze, his eyes as wet as his soulmate. "How did you stop everything? Why... Why I didn’t feel anything for all those years?" He specified and Merlin sighed. One secret was already told so what the other can do, right?

"I stopped it using magic" he answered honestly and noticed the sudden change in Arthur's face.

"Magic? How did you find a warlock who would do that for you?" The king asked and Merlin heard his own chuckle when he closed his eyes and let tears flow.

"Yeah, that would be me" he only said, letting another hysterical chuckle escape his lips. "I'm a wizard, I can do magic. I always could" he confessed, tears still flowing, his eyes avoiding Arthur's face, not wanting to find disgust caused by his words. "I moved to Camelot to help Gaius because my mother told me he can help with my magic... That wizard who helped us today – that was me. I used it only to do good, I helped people Arthur, I helped you so many times-" he wanted to start listing what he did for the king when blonde interrupted him.

"You kept both of those things secret... for years" Arthur said, his words hanging between them when Merlin nodded. "Magic is at the core of your being and you lied about it. You lied about something that important for years..." Merlin heard how Arthur's voice changed, words stopped by sudden tears flowing down.

"I had to do it. I had to" he only mumbled and looked up, his eyes meeting Arthur's whose reflected his cries. Blonde bit his lip to keep unwanted cries inside and shook his head.

"I know..." Arthur whispered and moved his head to look somewhere else. Anywhere else. "I'm happy you decided to tell me the truth in my last hours on this earth, Merlin, that was really nice of you... Now I would like you to leave me... Go gather something to eat" he commanded, his voice controlled and Merlin needed a second to understand his words clearly. He then stood up and went to the forest, leaving the king alone, both of them in lost in their own thoughts.

*****

When Merlin stabbed Morgana with Arthur's sword he felt a lonely tear falling down his cheek as he watched Highest Priestess slowly bleeding out on the ground. One lonely tear escaped his eyes as he imagined the extreme pain that Gwen felt right now. He was miles away from her and still manage to hurt his best friend. The wizard turned around and looked at Arthur, his soulmate avoiding his gaze. He only sighed – apparently, he was amazing at hurting people he loved.

*****

He didn't make it. He was so close to saving Arthur, but he didn't make it... And now he looked straight into those blue eyes that he was forbidden to openly love during his life. Eyes that were laughing with him, eyes that were always concerned and smart or confused and sad. Eyes that could read him so perfectly every single day at the same time being unable to see the most important things he managed to hide every day. Eyes he loved with his entire heart. Eyes that represent his dreams, one-sided love and suffering that gathered around him for all those years. Eyes always so alive, now looking at nothing blankly as they stopped telling the stories at the same time when Arthur fell to the ground, Merlin's heart stopping for a second when Arthur's stopped for eternity.

*****

They say that the closest soulmates were the biggest pain comes when they lose one another... That would explain why Merlin felt stabbed in several places at the same time, his scream full of internal and external pain as every cell of his body screamed at him.  
When you lose your soulmate it's like losing part of yourself, they used to say.  
When Merlin lost Arthur he didn't only lose part of himself – he lost his smile, his jokes, and his humour. He gave up his sarcastic nature, now smiling only at Gaius and Gwen... But then he lost them too. He lost everyone.

*****

He shared a story of great King Arthur and his Knights of Round Table. He mentioned his loyal advisor a sorcerer Merlin, evil step-sister Morgana and the love of his life, beautiful and kind Guinevere. He kept on telling that to everyone who listened, everyone who had a minute to sit with him and sometimes even write down his words. King Arthur died, but a memory of his adventures kept on living in the form of legend told from one person to another.

*****

Merlin liked the 21st century. He liked technology, he loved meeting people who never had to fight for anything in their life and could just enjoy things in life. He lived in a little apartment and currently worked at the art gallery where he even managed to put some of his works. He met amazing people over the years, each of them significant in their own way. He was sitting in the restaurant with his friend Monica who was too busy talking about how her parents can't accept the fact that she has two soulmates as her dad prefers Anna and her mom always was a fan of her childhood friend Jake. She put her blue hair in a bun while talking, but twenty-three-year-old suddenly stopped and looked at him with confusion.

"Remember when I asked you about your soulmate?" She asked and Merlin nodded while eating his spaghetti. "And you said that you don't have one anymore" she added and Merlin swallowed his fool.

"Yeah, I'm aware. I was there when I was telling you that story" he said and Monica opened her mouth and shook her head.

"Well, then you will be pretty freaked out, but three soulmate scars just appeared on your face" she said, handing him a little mirror. He looked at himself with shock, seeing the scars he didn't see for decades.

"I-I gotta go" he just said, and basically throw mirror at his friend while running out of the restaurant.

"Run, Forest, run!" Monica screamed at him when he sprinted towards his car. He broke couple speed laws while heading the road he could take with closed eyes.

*****

When he stopped the car next to the lake he froze not knowing what to do. He looked at peaceful water that looked the same way it looked a week ago when he came to visit as he did every couple days. Wizard sighed and almost punched himself in the face for this sudden feeling of hope.

"It's been fucking decades, why the hell you thought something happened?" He asked himself and turned around, watching forest ranger walking in his direction.

"Hello there" he said to him and nodded. "This will sound weird, but have you maybe seen..." He stopped himself and sighed loudly. "A weird looking man running around with a sword?" He asked and Merlin's head suddenly jumped up.

"No, but I would love to help you with looking" he quickly answered to the surprise of the ranger and walked with him into the forest.

*****

They were walking for about twenty minutes when they heard it. First, it was silent, like a whisper and they almost missed it, but then it happened again, much louder this time.

"Fucking hell!" Merlin turned to the right and started running, begging his brain to not joke with him about that. He lost Ranger Greg somewhere in the back when he noticed him. Armour still shinning in its glory, blonde hair still wet from water, Excalibur directed at the parking meter, which made a small smile appear on wizard's face.

"Arthur" he only said and then blonde turned around, looking at him with surprise that quickly changed into a smile and then confusion again.

"Merlin? What kind of clothing is that supposed to be?" He asked, pointing his sword at his flannel shirt visible under his brown leather jacket. Merlin opened his mouth, trying to answer that question, trying to say anything, but he just stood there in shock, his vision going blurry. "Merlin?" Arthur asked, but Merlin stopped him, walking towards the blonde man and embracing him in a shaky hug.

"You were gone for so long" he whispered, smelling Arthur's neck and touching his wet hair. "So so long, Arthur" he added, his body visibly shaking.

"But I'm here, Merlin" Arthur said and took a step back only to cup Merlin's face in his hands. "I'm here and I'm not planning to leave my soulmate alone, ever again" he whispered and Merlin smiled through tears.

"I fucking hope so" he only answered. And then he smiled with that smile that only Arthur manage to cause in the span of couple decades. He smiled, staring at those blue eyes that were so alive, staring back at him, ready to tell another story.


End file.
